What state has the worst/most boring interstates?

[midwesternroadguy]

I dread driving on I-90 across eastern South Dakota.  It's as bad as it gets. 

[JayhawkCO]

I dread driving on I-90 across eastern South Dakota.  It's as bad as it gets.

But I-90 across western South Dakota is about as good as it gets for "plains crossing" interstates.

Chris

[Scott5114]

I-35 from south of Kansas City to Oklahoma City is pretty boring. Did most of that leg at night, so I might feel differently in the day.

I enjoy I-35 through the Flint Hills at night, but that might just be because I'm usually on my way back from a long Minneapolis—Wichita drive, and the hills and curves keep me awake.  But yeah, it's a LOT more scenic during the daylight, especially during certain times of the year.

South of the KS/OK state line, though, you can keep it!

Oklahoma City to Kansas City is a trip I make at least once a (normal) year, so I have Opinions™ about it.

The section from Emporia to Kansas City isn't what I'd call notably scenic, but there's enough hills and trees and fields and towns to look at that it's not boring.

The Flint Hills gets most of the attention along this stretch, but it's almost too much of a good thing–there's not much to look at besides the Flint Hills since KTA maintains that part of I-35 and they're pretty parsimonious with the exits even in the more populated areas.

South of Wichita is pretty bland, and it gets even worse the further south you go. I-35 north of Guthrie is probably Oklahoma's least scenic rural Interstate. Here, I have the opposite experience as you–this is my "home stretch" and it never feels great going southbound. Northbound, it's okay, because the excitement of just setting out on the trip, and the approaching state line, always masks the dullness of it.

[CapeCodder]

I-55 in AR. It's creepy asf, especially at night. Even the outer roads and the slip ramps too.

[Flint1979]

I-55 in AR. It's creepy asf, especially at night. Even the outer roads and the slip ramps too.

Funny because I felt some type of creepiness driving on I-55 in Missouri south of Sikeston.

[CapeCodder]

I-55 in AR. It's creepy asf, especially at night. Even the outer roads and the slip ramps too.

Funny because I felt some type of creepiness driving on I-55 in Missouri south of Sikeston.

I was going to add that part. From Sikeston/Miner to West Memphis. Those fields, woods, ditches, and service roads have seen some shit. The whole route in that corridor needs to be rebuilt.

[Flint1979]

I-55 in AR. It's creepy asf, especially at night. Even the outer roads and the slip ramps too.

Funny because I felt some type of creepiness driving on I-55 in Missouri south of Sikeston.

I was going to add that part. From Sikeston/Miner to West Memphis. Those fields, woods, ditches, and service roads have seen some shit. The whole route in that corridor needs to be rebuilt.

Yeah it just seems so remote and creepy like. I think the fact that I had just been through Cairo and was looking to get off the Interstate at that point triggered me even more as creepy it just has that vibe and I thought Memphis in general did too. I headed toward Little Rock when I saw I-40 and the ride through there was a tad bit more interesting put much less creepy.

[CapeCodder]

I-55 in AR. It's creepy asf, especially at night. Even the outer roads and the slip ramps too.

Funny because I felt some type of creepiness driving on I-55 in Missouri south of Sikeston.

I was going to add that part. From Sikeston/Miner to West Memphis. Those fields, woods, ditches, and service roads have seen some shit. The whole route in that corridor needs to be rebuilt.

Yeah it just seems so remote and creepy like. I think the fact that I had just been through Cairo and was looking to get off the Interstate at that point triggered me even more as creepy it just has that vibe and I thought Memphis in general did too. I headed toward Little Rock when I saw I-40 and the ride through there was a tad bit more interesting put much less creepy.

Also, what is up with those death ramps along 55?

[Flint1979]

I-55 in AR. It's creepy asf, especially at night. Even the outer roads and the slip ramps too.

Funny because I felt some type of creepiness driving on I-55 in Missouri south of Sikeston.

I was going to add that part. From Sikeston/Miner to West Memphis. Those fields, woods, ditches, and service roads have seen some shit. The whole route in that corridor needs to be rebuilt.

Yeah it just seems so remote and creepy like. I think the fact that I had just been through Cairo and was looking to get off the Interstate at that point triggered me even more as creepy it just has that vibe and I thought Memphis in general did too. I headed toward Little Rock when I saw I-40 and the ride through there was a tad bit more interesting put much less creepy.

Also, what is up with those death ramps along 55?

I'm not sure it's got such a strange feeling to it that it's impossible to figure out. I think it might win for creepiest stretch of Interstate highway maybe that can be a thread of it's own.

[thspfc]

I dread driving on I-90 across eastern South Dakota.  It's as bad as it gets.

But I-90 across western South Dakota is about as good as it gets for "plains crossing" interstates.

Chris

I feel like there's a general theme for the Interstates that cross the Plains, particularly 70, 80, 90, and 94. The most boring and flattest stretch is the one bookended by the junctions with US-83 on the west and US-81 or US-77 on the east. Maybe it's just me being relatively unfamiliar with the Wild West-type landscape of the high plains, but even I-80 in Nebraska/eastern Wyoming (and the entirety of I-76 in NE and CO) becomes somewhat interesting west of US-83.

[kernals12]

Based on the measure that most people care about when talking about quality of highways, congestion, I'd say California has the worst.

[Max Rockatansky]

Based on the measure that most people care about when talking about quality of highways, congestion, I'd say California has the worst.

Not even close if you are going by that criterion.  Things like the Kennedy Expressway and pre-Ultimate I-4 were infinitely worse commutes than any individual California Freeway I've used for work.  Even ancient stuff like CA 99 isn't even in the discussion for worst commute freeways. 

[kernals12]

Based on the measure that most people care about when talking about quality of highways, congestion, I'd say California has the worst.

Not even close if you are going by that criterion.  Things like the Kennedy Expressway and pre-Ultimate I-4 were infinitely worse commutes than any individual California Freeway I've used for work.  Even ancient stuff like CA 99 isn't even in the discussion for worst commute freeways.

The title of this thread is what state has the worst interstates. Illinois and Florida as a whole don't have the same congestion issues as California. Even California's rural interstates have major traffic, I-15 near the Nevada border for example.

[Max Rockatansky]

Based on the measure that most people care about when talking about quality of highways, congestion, I'd say California has the worst.

Not even close if you are going by that criterion.  Things like the Kennedy Expressway and pre-Ultimate I-4 were infinitely worse commutes than any individual California Freeway I've used for work.  Even ancient stuff like CA 99 isn't even in the discussion for worst commute freeways.

The title of this thread is what state has the worst interstates. Illinois and Florida as a whole don't have the same congestion issues as California. Even California's rural interstates have major traffic, I-15 near the Nevada border for example.

On Sundays when everyone is coming home from Las Vegas is when I-15 is having problems which are largely due to the poor placement of the new Ag station.  It's rare I-15 between Barstow-Primm is overwhelmed otherwise during the rest of the week.  Even on Friday/Saturday I-15 northbound traffic into Las Vegas doesn't have to contend with a obstructing Ag station and tends to keep moving.  By comparison I-17 is on a Sunday when the Sedona 500 is going on to get a like scenario due to Sunset Point acting as a choke point down hill grade. 

And to that end I disagree with your assessment.  Yes, California has a ton of high ranking congested freeways but at least there are a great many of them (a ton are even State Highways) compared to the likes of places like Chicago.  Everyone in Chicago dog piles onto the few existing freeways corridors, especially those designated as the free expressways.  Similarly everyone piled onto I-4 in Orlando given it was the only free limited access corridor available for use.

Now none of this is an inference that commuting in California is good.  There are tons of corridors which were built during the 1950s-early 1970s which haven't had capacity expansions or redesigns since.  I live right off CA 99 which has for many years been the poster child for a functionally obsolete freeway.  Thing is, out of all the freeways I've commuted on in all the states I've lived/work I wouldn't rank anything California presently in the Top 5 worst.  I-405 would have been probably on the list a decade ago but the corridor has been improved and upgraded in the intervening years. 

[SkyPesos]

Illinois, because according to the Fundamental Theorem of AARoads, it's flat. And flat=boring.

[Max Rockatansky]

Illinois, because according to the Fundamental Theorem of AARoads, it's flat. And flat=boring.

This dude wants to tell you how objectively wrong you are and how Illinois is sublime as drinking tears from an angel:

https://m.youtube.com/c/LetsRideIllinois

Makes one wonder what Teddy Roosevelt would make of all this?

[wriddle082]

I would say Mississippi is pretty high on the boring scale, as well as my current state of residence: South Carolina.

Mississippi only has a very few slightly exciting stretches of urban freeway, which are I-55 in Jackson and Southaven (suburban Memphis), and I guess maybe I-20/59 through Meridian and parts of I-10 in the Gulfport/Biloxi area.  Otherwise every rural interchange looks sort of the same, you have trees in the median at the same intervals, and the foliage just doesn't change.

Sourh Carolina has a lot of those same qualities as Mississippi, except for I-85 which is a whole other animal due to it being mostly either urban or under major reconstruction.  I-20 and I-77 are major snooze fests, and you'd want to snooze on I-26 or I-95 if you had time to look at the scenery but the high traffic levels will keep you awake.  And my home area of Columbia has zero exciting urban stretches of highway.  Also, I would venture to guess that South Carolina has one of the smallest percentages of lighted freeways.  I think there are only two or three lighted stretches of roadway in Greater Columbia, and not one single bit of I-77's 90 mile run through SC is lit.

[US20IL64]

I-55 between Gardner and Springfield IL, sure. And I-65 between Gary and Indy.

And in Eastern Washington state, I-90 and I-82, are similarly flat and long.

[jaehak]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Florida (or I missed it). 75 is a bore from Naples to Georgia. 10 is relentlessly boring from Duval to Pensacola and it goes on way longer than you think - there's 160 miles of it in Central Time Zone! Haven't done much 95 outside of Miami, Daytona, and Jax and those are fun, but I imagine there must be some boring stretches in between if 75 is any indication.

[Max Rockatansky]

Surprised nobody has mentioned Florida (or I missed it). 75 is a bore from Naples to Georgia. 10 is relentlessly boring from Duval to Pensacola and it goes on way longer than you think - there's 160 miles of it in Central Time Zone! Haven't done much 95 outside of Miami, Daytona, and Jax and those are fun, but I imagine there must be some boring stretches in between if 75 is any indication.

I-75 is a bore in the Everglades also.  I don't know why so many road people are fascinated when US 27 and US 41 are way more interesting in the Everglades. 

[TXtoNJ]

Mississippi has beautiful interstates. Yes, a bit boring, but only because they're forested like all the eastern interstates are.

Oklahoma is the answer when it comes to the distinct combo of poorly maintained and without much to look at. Even 70 in Kansas is somewhat stunning when you take into account the grandness of the High Plains.

[Scott5114]

There's plenty of stuff to look at in Oklahoma...unfortunately none of it is really close to the Interstate corridors. I-40 in eastern Oklahoma is nice but that's about it.

[TXtoNJ]

There's plenty of stuff to look at in Oklahoma...unfortunately none of it is really close to the Interstate corridors. I-40 in eastern Oklahoma is nice but that's about it.

Yeah, and the Arbuckles are a pleasant diversion that just don't last long enough.

[MikieTimT]

There's plenty of stuff to look at in Oklahoma...unfortunately none of it is really close to the Interstate corridors. I-40 in eastern Oklahoma is nice but that's about it.

Yeah, and the Arbuckles are a pleasant diversion that just don't last long enough.

I have found that OK is pretty scenic south and east of US-69.  It seems to be near the dividing line of the foothills of where the Ozarks and Ouachitas of Arkansas end and where the plains of the rest of the state begin, except for the tiny oasis of Arbuckles.  Count me in the minority as someone who finds nearly all interstates boring and avoids them except when necessary, the exceptions being the areas where the interstates were forced through canyons, such as I-70 in Glenwood Canyon in CO and I-90 through the panhandle of ID.

[tolbs17]

I-40 From Benson to Wilmington.